News:

"There is a terrible desperation to the increasingly pathetic rationalizations from the climate denial camp. This comes as no surprise if you take the long view; every single undone paradigm in history has died kicking and screaming, and our current petroleum paradigm 🐉🦕🦖 is no different. The trick here is trying to figure out how we all make it to the new ⚡ paradigm without dying ☠️ right along with the old one, kicking, screaming or otherwise." - William Rivers Pitt

Like many sea mammals, baby walruses have a deep tactile connection with their moms who offer them both nourshiment and protection during the early years of their lives. But every once in a while, something goes wrong, and the little ones become separated from their natural mothers.

The Alaska SeaLife Center is currently rehabilitating one such baby, a male Pacific walrus calf that was stranded near Barrow last month. The calf, estimated at four to six weeks old when found, was spotted by local fishermen who came across the calf in North Salt Lagoon. A large group of walruses were sighted passing Barrow on floating ice a few days earlier and the calf is presumed to have been separated from this group.

Today in Cute Tiny Animals, welcome baby Sochi into your heart. Born December 3 at the Denver Zoo, Sochi is one of the world’s few Amur leopards. (There are only about 30 Amur leopards in the wild, according to World Wildlife Fund.) The cub was named after Sochi, Russia, home to the upcoming Winter Olympics.

Zooborns has the scoop:

Sochi is the second cub for Dazma and her mate, Hari-Kari. Hari-Kari was born at El Paso Zoo in 2003, while Dazma was born at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in 2001. The two came to Denver Zoo and were paired under recommendation of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Species Survival Plan (SSP), which ensures healthy populations and genetic diversity among zoo animals. Fortunately, the couple has proved to be an excellent match.

Exotic wild felines are commonly raised and sold as pets in the United States. My observation has been that, with the exception of servals and other smaller cats, it is a really unwise idea to keep big exotic cats as domestic pets. Most people greatly underestimate the commitment required to keep these animals, their space requirements, the time their care involves and the cost of keeping them. When you cut corners on any of those things, or when you think you can make them into anything but the wild animals God intended them to be, things will end sadly. But my clients still insist on having them, my job is to keep them healthy and hand raising them is the norm. It does establish a bond and trust that is next to impossible to establish later in the cat’s life. But anyone who tells you you can ever fully trust a large cat has a leak in their attic.

“Zoos tell us as much about humans as they do about animals” Richard Mabey

About Big Cats

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For many years, I treated wild exotic cats in zoos and private collections in Texas. Later, I cared for large circus cats in Sarasota, Florida. This is some of the information I learned over that time. For it, I am indebted to the Rosaire Family, Show Folks Inc. of Sarasota and to the kind members of the Feline Conservation Federation of America.

Hand-raising big exotic cats is somewhat like baking a cake – there is no one right way to do it but there are some obvious things you want to avoid. What is important is that you are happy with the final results.